RE: DSKBAL?

["Allen, Stuart" <sallen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fred,

DSKBAL is a precursor of the ASP balancing commands that arrive in V4R4. The
new commands are: Start ASP Balance (STRASPBAL), End ASP Balance (ENDASPBAL)
and Trace ASP Balance (TRCASPBAL).

You can set up DSKBAL to run only at the next IPL or at all IPLs. You can
specify for how long DSKBAL should run at IPL time. (IPL will be lengthened
by this amount
of time). I would suggest setting up for a single IPL. If you set up for
multiple IPLs and have an unexpected shutdown, you could be facing a long
IPL when it really does not suit you. Set up DSKBAL immediately before doing
a PWRDWNSYS RESTART(*YES). That way you control the extended IPL.

We added 3 8.5 GIG drives to an S20 with 4 raided 8.5 GIG drives with a disk
utilisation of about 75%. Time to balance the data across all 7 drives was
about 10 hours (over 4 IPLs).

(Thanks to Al Barsa Jr. & Robin Sapiro who answered my questions on this a
while back - the above is a cut and paste of their replies).


I've used this on two as400's and results were good.  Of course you could
just let it balance on its own as you read/write records........

Regards,
Stuart


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fred Pritchard [SMTP:pritch@ee.net]
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 10:45 PM
> To:   MIDRANGE
> Subject:      DSKBAL?
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> re: AS/400 720 V4R3
> 
> We just added two new drives to our RAID set and I was wondering if we
> should run DSKBAL to even the drive usage? Is this recommended?
> 
> I have never used it and do not know its limitations.  Can it be run while
> the system is in use? if so, will it hinder performance?
> 
> I can't find any documentation on this command, there isn't even any help
> associated with it.  Does anyone know where I can get some docs? I was in
> the manuals on the internet and searched all books for DSKBAL and nothing
> was found.
> 
> Thanks for any assistance,
> 
> Fred
> 
> 
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